# Any actor played roles in all 4 armed services? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873 "2012-04-25T02:08:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/101 "2016-01-21T03:07:26Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > By contrast, is anyone surprised that Michael Ironside has all four? Like, _anyone?_… He was also - and memorably - Mobile Infantry Lt. Rasczak in _Starship Troopers_. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Before he was Oscar Goldman on _The Six Million Dollar Man_, Richard Anderson played a naval officer in movies like _Hit The Deck_ and _Three Brave Men_ and _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ – and a USAF Colonel alongside Rock Hudson in _A Gathering Of Eagles_, and a USMC Lieutenant Colonel in _The Lieutenant_ – and as for Army, he’s played every General from Douglas MacArthur to George Meade after playing a Green Beret in _Never Give Up_. He played Chief Quinn in _Forbidden Planet_ (1956) and, as you say, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade in _Gettysburg_ (1993). Quite a military career! ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/102 "2016-01-21T03:33:29Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Cuba Gooding Jr. > > Navy - Pearl Harbor and Men of Honor > Army - Outbreak > Marines - A Few Good Men > Air Force (Army Air Corp) - The Tuskegee Airmen In think in “Outbreak,” Cuba, Donald, Dustin, and Morgan were Air Force. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/103 "2016-01-21T04:21:11Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > In think in “Outbreak,” Cuba, Donald, Dustin, and Morgan were Air Force. No, all Army, and all assigned to this: [United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Medical_Research_Institute_of_Infectious_Diseases) [http://cdn.moviestillsdb.com/sm/90dc1ba78c22f35f53e5567046b11068/outbreak.jpg](http://cdn.moviestillsdb.com/sm/90dc1ba78c22f35f53e5567046b11068/outbreak.jpg) [http://cdn.moviestillsdb.com/sm/ecb2c862f041dd69328dcebb95554d5d/outbreak.jpg](http://cdn.moviestillsdb.com/sm/ecb2c862f041dd69328dcebb95554d5d/outbreak.jpg) [![](https://l7.alamy.com/zooms/927f3109071e411aae3ca3868c499713/outbreak-1995-dustin-hoffman-cuba-gooding-jr-obk-110-bkbxwm.jpg) ](https://l7.alamy.com/zooms/927f3109071e411aae3ca3868c499713/outbreak-1995-dustin-hoffman-cuba-gooding-jr-obk-110-bkbxwm.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/104 "2016-01-21T04:25:06Z")
Jack Nicholson was an astronaut in Terms of endearment. Didn’t astronauts used to be Air Force? What about Francis the talking mule? he has 2, or 3 if the Wacs count: Francis Goes to West Point (1952) Francis Covers the Big Town (1953) Francis Joins the WACS (1954) Francis in the Navy (1955) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/105 "2016-01-21T04:40:04Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Jack Nicholson was an astronaut in Terms of endearment. Didn’t astronauts used to be Air Force? Trivia note: Nicholson was not the first choice for the role. The part was written for Burt Reynolds. But Reynolds decided he’s rather do _Stroker Ace_ and Nicholson got the part. _Terms of Endearment_ went on to win five Oscars, including one for Nicholson. _Stroker Ace_ flopped and put Reynolds’ career into a decline from which it never fully recovered. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/106 "2016-01-21T05:11:43Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Jack Nicholson was an astronaut in Terms of endearment. Didn’t astronauts used to be Air Force? Not really. Of the Mercury Seven: Carpenter - Navy Cooper - Air Force Glenn - Marines Grissom - Air Force Schirra - Navy Shepard - Navy Slayton - Air Force Neil Armstrong, arguably the most famous astronaut, was former Navy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/107 "2016-01-21T12:33:52Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Not really. Of the Mercury Seven: > > Carpenter - Navy > Cooper - Air Force > Glenn - Marines > Grissom - Air Force > Schirra - Navy > Shepard - Navy > Slayton - Air Force > > Neil Armstrong, arguably the most famous astronaut, was former Navy. Heck, after Armstrong did his thing during the Apollo 11 mission, Apollo 12 involved having naval aviator Dick Gordon pilot the command module while naval aviators Pete Conrad and Alan Bean walked on the moon. (And after Jim Lovell of the USN famously handled things on Apollo 13, Apollo 14 put the aforementioned Shepard and his fellow _did-my-hitch-on-an-aircraft-carrier_ expert Edgar Mitchell on the moon likewise.) And, just to keep myself from hijacking the topic: Alan Ladd played a naval officer in THE DEEP SIX before playing a Marine in ALL THE YOUNG MEN, after playing Air Force in THE McCONNELL STORY, after playing Army in, well, CAPTAIN CAREY, USA. Top-billed every time, as it happens. (Also starred as a member of the OSS, and the RAF, and the French Foreign Legion, and as sooooooooooo many guys who served in the Confederacy.) ---
**Author:** ![botsgotme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/108 "2016-01-21T14:15:56Z")
A politician is (by definition) an actor. Winny was: -An RAF Air Marshal -An army colonel -A Royal navy Admiral -An Admiral of the “Cinque Ports” I don’t know if he ever wore a Royal marines uniform, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/109 "2016-01-21T14:34:20Z")
Coming at it the other way around, ex-Marine James Whitmore played USAF in that _McConnell Story_ movie with Alan Ladd I just mentioned – same year he played USMC in _Battle Cry_, long before he got the USN credit in _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ – long after he earned his first Oscar nomination by playing Army in _Battleground_. So there’s that – but he earned his second Oscar nomination playing Harry Truman. And he also played Ulysses S Grant. And also Teddy Roosevelt. And even, if you will, “The President”, in _Favorite Son_: to look at him is to think COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/110 "2016-01-21T16:34:11Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Srsly\_Dad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Srsly\_Dad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Srsly_Dad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/111 "2016-01-21T17:42:47Z")
James Earl Jones only has two that I can find (I thought there would be more) USAF (Lt. Lothar Zogg in Dr Strangelove) and USN (Admrial Greer in the Tom Clancy movies). Of course being a Lion King and Lord Vader should count somehow ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/112 "2016-01-21T18:24:26Z")
> [@Srsly\_Dad](#): > > James Earl Jones only has two that I can find (I thought there would be more) > USAF (Lt. Lothar Zogg in Dr Strangelove) and USN (Admrial Greer in the Tom Clancy movies). > > Of course being a Lion King and Lord Vader should count somehow Army - _Gardens of Stone_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/113 "2016-01-21T19:32:13Z")
Danny Glover likewise hits the Army-Navy-Air-Force trifecta – and even played the Commander-in-Chief, in **2012** – but while he played Colonel Isaac Johnson, who recruits Bob Swagger of the USMC for a special assignment in **SHOOTER** , I don’t think they ever specified that _Johnson_ was USMC: that he’d earned the Medal of Honor, sure, but not which branch he was in. Maybe someone can correct me? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/114 "2016-01-23T14:18:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > _Hot Shots!_ was the Navy. Said so right on the planes “THE NAVY”. Heh. Lloyd Bridges was the Admiral in that one – but I don’t think we need it, since he’d already earned USN credits playing it straight in SWEETHEART OF THE FLEET and SUBMARINE RAIDER (and, apparently, DESTROYER). Likewise, it maybe doesn’t matter that he was clowning around as the Colonel in HOLLYWOOD AIR FORCE, because he’d already played Air Corps in FLIGHT LIEUTENANT (and, apparently, CANAL ZONE). And he played an Army noncom in A WALK IN THE SUN, before playing various Army officers in various westerns; and a USMC Colonel, in THE WILD PAIR; and, sure as he actually _served_ in the USCG, a Coast Guard Helmsman in CITY WITHOUT MEN. (And he played British military, in UNCONQUERED and SAHARA; and German military, in COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN and THE WIFE TAKES A FLYER; and even Canadian military, in ATTACK ON THE IRON COAST; and along the way he played Phil Corrigan, Secret Agent X-9, in SECRET AGENT X-9, which doesn’t count but is awesome.) And he’d have apparently been Captain Kirk, if he’d felt like it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/115 "2016-01-23T16:17:28Z")
At that, Dick Purcell was Captain America in Republic’s most expensive serial, after playing Navy in FLIGHT COMMAND, after playing a Marine in FOLLOW THE FLEET and getting the Air Corps credit as an enlisted man in AERIAL GUNNER – but the one thing he apparently _didn’t_ do was play straight-up Army; but I figure we pretty much _have_ to give him credit for dressing up as Captain America and shooting bad guys in 1944. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/116 "2016-01-23T19:20:51Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > And **Born on the Fourth of July** was USMC. I forget the details, was his character in _Taps_ obligated to serve in the U.S. Army upon graduation? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/117 "2016-01-23T20:11:31Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > I forget the details, was his character in _Taps_ obligated to serve in the U.S. Army upon graduation? Not sure it matters; in **The Last Samurai** , he’s a former US Army captain – which means we eventually get a flashback to him serving in uniform as a cavalry officer. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/118 "2016-01-24T05:05:53Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > I forget the details, was [Tom Cruise’s] character in _Taps_ obligated to serve in the U.S. Army upon graduation? Not that I recall. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/119 "2016-01-24T16:07:35Z")
Looks like Cruise still needs the Air Force credit – unless maybe there’s confirmation out there that Commander Jack Harper was USAF working with NASA. (I see where Cruise is _currently_ filming a biopic of a guy who served in the Civil Air Patrol of the United States Air Force Auxiliary, but I’m guessing that in no way counts.) And, just to bump this with something relevant: Frank “Hey It’s That Guy” Lovejoy hit all four branches from '53 to '55: second-billed to Guy Madison, as an Army sergeant in THE CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER; and second-billed to Tony Curtis as a Marine, in BEACHHEAD; and as the Navy Lieutenant Commander who outranks star Van Johnson, in MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY; and then as the Air Force General who outranks star Jimmy Stewart, in STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND. (And before all of those, he played Army in FORCE OF ARMS, and played a Marine in RETREAT, HELL! – and afterward, he played Air Corps in TOP OF THE WORLD, and played Navy in THREE BRAVE MEN – so, two separate sets of all four.) (Oddly, while he had his share of leading roles, it seems it was never as a member of the military: only ever as the ex-con, or the diner owner, or the police captain, or the gunslinger out west, or I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI.) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/120 "2016-01-25T04:24:59Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Ignoring his westerns and movies set before the 20th century, John Wayne played Navy ( **They Were Expendible** ), marines ( **Sands of Iwo Jima** ), Air Force ( **Jet Pilot** ), Army paratrooper ( **The Longest Day** ), and regular army ( **Back to Bataan** ). He also was a merchant marine captain and a seabee, Also as a Coast Guard warrant officer in 1936’s “The Sea Spoilers”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873.md?page=7)